Stall Me
by CaseyJ0nes
Summary: Donnie gets obsessed with finding a retro-mutagen, and with Sensei away his brothers enlist the help of April to drag him away. - Mild-ish Apritello


"Is he still in there?" Raph demanded as he walked to the lab door.

"Of course he is." Leo frowned, turning his attention away from his television program to his brother. "You know he won't leave until Sensei gets home and makes him."

"And you're just going to sit there and let it happen?" Raph asked, challenging Leo's authority as leader.

"What am I supposed to do? Drag him out kicking and screaming?" Leo questioned, and Mikey looked up at his older brothers now, raising an eyebrow. "You know the moment we turn our backs he'll be back in there and he'll probably just lock the doors. At least this way I can go in and check on his from time to time."

Raph huffed, crossing his arms.

"Why don't you guys just ask April to help?" Mikey suggested, setting his comic to the side.

"April?" They both questioned.

"Well, yeah. You know Don'll do anything for her if she asks." He told them. "Just ask April to do something with him to get him out of the lab."

Leo and Raph exchanged looks, questioning why neither of them had thought of the idea before Michelangelo had, but eventually giving in.

"Fine, we'll ask April. But if this doesn't work I'm dragging him out and tying him to his bed." Raph growled as Leo pulled his Tphone out.

"So he's been in there since Master Splinter left?" April asked, looking towards the lab doors.

"Yeah, and we have no idea when Splinter's getting home, so we have no way to get him out. Sensei's usually the only one who can when he gets this bad." Leo frowned.

"And what makes you think I can?" April asked, and Raph rolled his eyes.

"We just thought we'd give it a shot." Leo shrugged. "He likes helping people, and we have nothing for him to help us with that he wouldn't see right through."

"Well, alright, I'll try. I do have a science project I'm sure he could help me with." April said, before walking towards the lab. "Wish me luck."

"Luck!" Mikey called after her cheerfully.

"Donnie?" April said as she entered the lab, looking around for the purple banded brother. "Donnie?"

She saw him crouched by his desk, headphones sitting over where his ears would be.

She walked over to him, hesitating for a moment before tapping his shoulder and jumping away as he jumped.

He turned around quickly, removing the headphones from his ears once he saw it was her. She could hear the loud Techno music coming from them without the pressure.

"April, I didn't hear you come in." He told her, and she nodded.

"Obviously." She looked at his work table for any clue as to what he was working on and saw the mutagen, frowning slightly.

If he was still working on the retro-mutagen it was her fault he was locked in here.

She must have been a bit spaced because Donnie cleared his throat, and her attention went back to him.

"Is there something I can do for you, April?" He asked, and April stared for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you could help me out tonight." She told him, and he raised an eyebrow, silently telling her to continue. "I have a huge science project due soon, on astronomy, and I have no idea how to work the telescope I have. I was hoping maybe you could come out and help me."

Donnie frowned, looking back down at his work.

"I don't know, April... I have a lot of work to do." He told her.

"Donnie, please. It'll be really fun, I swear! We could have some snacks, and some music, and work on the project. Please! I really need your help." She gave her best set of puppy dog eyes, clasping her hands underneath her chin in a pleading motion.

Donnie dragged his eyes away from his work, going back and forth between it and her a few times before sighing.

"I guess I could take a small break." He decided, taking his headphones from around his neck and setting them on the table.

"That's great, Donnie!" She smiled happily, wrapping her arms around his shoulders in a hug. "You're the best!"

She left the room a moment later, after telling him what time to come, and smiled at his brothers.

"He's going to come to my house tonight to help me," she said happily.

"Thank god." Leo smiled, sinking in his seat in relief, even Raph giving a small smile.

April had brought everything up to her roof that night, the telescope, snacks, a radio and a blanket for them to sit on.

She had been confident that he would come but as the time he was supposed to show up passed and he was no where's in sight she began to worry.

It was 15 minutes later when he finally landed on her roof that she let out a breath.

"Sorry I'm late." He said simply, walking over to the telescope and pulling it out of its case.

"Um, it's fine." She smiled, crawling over to sit next to him by the instrument. "So, do you want to show me how it works?"

"Well, I'm not completely sure of it yet," He said, looking over the pieces before setting to work putting them together. "Just give me a moment to figure it out."

"Alright," she leaned back, grabbing a slice of the pizza she had ordered for them.

She saw his nose twitch when she opened the box and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you want a piece, Donnie?" She asked.

"In a minute, sure."

And true to his word, in just a minute he had the telescope set up and working, peering through it to make sure it was adjusted correctly.

He turned back around and saw April holding a slice of pizza out for him and took it gladly.

"So, this science project, what exactly is it?" He asked.

"Well, it's pretty simple, actually." She told him. "Basically, all I have to do is list everything that I can see when I look up at the sky, and then I have to look through the telescope and list any differences and anything new that I see." She explained.

Donnie nodded, "Then you really don't need me around for the rest of it, then?" He asked, almost looking as if he was going to get up.

"Well, I don't _need_ you, but I wanted you to stay and hang out." She told him and frowned as he sighed.

"You don't need to do this, April. I know my brother's asked you to do this."

She paused a moment, looking over to see him and realizing there was no use in lying. "Donnie, they're just worried about you."

"They don't need to be, I'm fine."

"_I'm_ worried about you, Donnie." She tried again, moving closer to him and grabbing his much large hands.

He was silent, looking down to avoid her eyes so she continued.

"What you're doing, locking yourself in your lab for days on end, surviving off of caffeine, it's not healthy. You're going to hurt yourself, and I don't want that to happen to you."

"I'm not going to hurt myself, I said I'm fine. I just need to keep working." He told her, taking his hands away.

"You're not fine, though! Is this what fine is?" She asked. "When was the last time you slept, when was the last time you ate? If you keep doing this you're going to just collapse, and then what?"

"Then I'll wake up and get back to work! People out there need this, April, and I don't care if I get a little sick if it means I can save all of them!" He stood up, backing away.

"Well you're not going to be a lot of help to them if you kill yourself in the process!" She returned, standing up to try and match his height, though it wasn't much help.

"What about your dad? I thought you wanted him to be human again?" He asked.

"Of course I do! But not if it takes you away in the process!"

He paused, turning away from her.

"That's not what you've been saying these past few months." He said quietly, and she winced.

"Well, I was stupid, and angry, not at you guys, but at everything. I had just got my dad back, and then he was gone, and Mikey said it was your fault, and some where's back in my head I realized that it was probably not really your fault, but, I just, I couldn't handle it, so I took it out on you guys. And I've regretted more than you could possibly know." She told him, taking a step closer. "I don't want you to hurt yourself, Donnie, especially if it's while trying to help me."

Donnie sighed, his shoulder dropping to their usual slumped posture.

"So please, will you take a break? Just tonight, just for one night. Eat, relax, be out of the lab. Everything will still be there tomorrow, and I'll even come and help you."

She reached her hand out and after a moment of hesitation, he took it, letting her drag him back over to the telescope.

He stayed silent as she handed him another piece of pizza, eating it quickly. She then pushed him back so that he was lying on the roof, looking up at the stars.

Turning over herself, she set her head on his stomach, resting her notebook up on her knees and getting to work.

It wasn't five minutes later that Donnie's breathe evened out, and she turned her head to see him with his eyes closed and a peaceful expression on her face.

She turned back to her work, smiling happily at the feel of his stomach rising and falling slowly under her head.

* * *

Thank you for reading, and thank you to me-tmnt on tumblr for requesting it.

If you want to request something, you can leave a review, or private message me, or message me on tumblr at ask.

Byyye~


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